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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Boucons - rolled veal fillets with mushroom ragout

Boucons, is a ragout which is done as follows: take small sections of fillet of veal a little long & thin & flatten by pounding; then take as many raw ham & bacon plugs as fillets and arrange them perpendicularly on your sections, putting a bacon plug & one of ham on each, sprinkle on a little parsley & chopped Welsh onions [scallions], & season them with fine spices & sweet herbs [traditionally a blend of four herbs — Parsley, Chervil, Chives and Tarragon]. Roll them properly [tie securely] & sear until well browned & add liquid for braising--cover pot: when cooked and tender, degrease, remove to a hot dish to keep warm. Prepare a mushroom ragout in the pan drippings and serve ragout over boucons.

Today, Bouc[h]ons are known variously as corks or rammers or jammers, or beggars' purses. They are a bite-sized morsel, usually cooked [sometimes steamed] in a casing of dough, as in dumpling, or in a mold. Restaurants, paricularly in Lyon, where one can get a quick bite are also called bouchons. And for all you chocoholics, there are cork shaped chocolates filled with marc.

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Explore with me 18thC French cuisine as a habitante in Nouvelle France may have cooked. After the F&I War, and again after the Revolutionary War, habitantes were surrounded and overrun by Anglo and other American influences. By the end of the 18thC, new foods and new methods of cooking would change her culture forever.